30. New Jersey Devils : Kasperi Kapanen 29. Los Angeles Kings : Brendan Lemieux 28. Tampa Bay Lightning : Julius Honka 27. Chicago Blackhawks : Conner Bleackley 26. Montreal Canadiens : Nick Schmaltz 25. Boston Bruins : Alex Tuch 24. Anaheim Ducks : Jack Dougherty 23. Colorado Avalanche : Travis Sanheim 22. Pittsburgh Penguins : Nikolay Goldobin 21. St. Louis Blues : Joshua Ho-Sang 20. San Jose Sharks : Brendan Perlini 19. Tampa Bay Lightning : Ivan Barbashev 18. Minnesota Wild : Roland McKeown 17. Philadelphia Flyers : Sonny Milano 16. Columbus Blue Jackets : Jakub Vrà¡na 15. Detroit Red Wings : Adrian Kempe 14. Dallas Stars : Robby Fabbri 13. Washington Capitals : Dylan Larkin 12. Arizona Coyotes : Jake Virtanen 11. The Nashville Predators : William Nylander 10. Anaheim Ducks : Jared McCann 9. Winnipeg Jets : Nikolaj Ehlers 8. Toronto Maple Leafs : Nick Ritchie
7. The Carolina Hurricanes select Defenseman Haydn Fleury of the Red Deer Rebels in the WHL
6’3, 203lbs, 1996-07-08 : 17 years old
70 – 8g – 38a – 46p
After Ekblad there is a pretty much clear choice as the second best defenseman in the draft. Fleury is coming off a very strong season that ended with a great showing at the U18’s where he was named the “Best Defenseman… of the tournament. It was based on his excellent defensive showing. His strong skating abilities and willingness to play a smart physical game is extremely useful. He can grind it out without losing his head and taking bad penalties. Positioning and smarts make him effective and hard to beat. With added muscle and filling out, he could be a force out there and the perfect complimentary defender for a dynamic defenseman. Mostly because he has the ability to keep up with them and the mentality to cover for mistakes.
It’s hard to say what his offensive potential is at the NHL level. On the Rebels he was given by default a lot of offensive zone starts and PP time, simply because they didn’t have anyone better. Yet at the U18’s it was apparent that they wanted him in an almost purely shutdown role, something he excelled at. There is potential for some offensive production, but at the NHL level expectations should probably be tempered in that regard. His shutdown ability is what will dazzle and make him important to any team that picks him. 21 of his 46 points came on the PP (half his goals), but I don’t think he has the offensive capabilities to run an NHL power play where there will be more dynamic players that are built for offensive defending.
He logs big minutes, plays all situations (though as mentioned earlier he won’t see much PP time in the NHL) and is tasked with shutting down opponents best players. At the next level, this is what you can hope from him.
The Hurricanes are entering a non-Rutherford era for the first time in seemingly forever. The Canes have done extremely well with their forward selections, yet have never seemed to be able to develop a defender. Faulk is one of the few and he wasn’t even their first pick. The Canes will need defense if they ever plan to compete again, not just flashy defense, but guys who can muck it up and get things done in their own end. Fleury is that guy.
Comparison : Dan Hamhuis
Thanks for reading.